(S06E01) This is why I love TV. This was the second time I've seen this episode (you've got to love press screeners) and I was just as riveted as the first time I saw it. With the way last season ended, people have been waiting a long time for this. It was worth the wait because last night's season six premiere of The Shield was arguably one of the best episodes of the series to date.

Picking up just about a week after Shane killed Lem, the late Det. Lemansky has been buried minus the pomp of a proper police funeral. Turns out that Aceveda and his new political cronies made sure that the city knew Lem was "dirty." Naturally, Vic is not thrilled with that and along with Shane and Ronnie (who now has a much more expanded role), they begin looking for whoever killed Lem.

I'll be the first to admit it. I was a latecomer to The Shield. I'd never watched a minute of it until right before the fourth season started and a buddy of mine let me borrow the first three seasons on DVD. He told me it was the best cop show ever. Wait a second. Better than NYPD Blue or The Wire? Yes. So I watched the three seasons... in one weekend. The phrase "glued to my seat" does not begin to do justice to how mesmerized I was by this show. I mean, damn!

So naturally, when I was approached about speaking with Walton Goggins, I practically blew up with anticipation. However, I'm not the only Shield fan here at TV Squad. Our fearless leader Keith is a die-hard too. So we decided to do something different for this interview -- the first ever TV Squad Tag Team. Walton didn't know what he was stepping into... that is, if he could crack through all the codes to get into our elaborate virtual phone-in conference room. I can't say that I blame him. I got confused too.

Keith: Hey man, thanks for joining us.

Walton: (laughing) I'm in the inner sanctum of some imaginary corporate office right now.

Jonathan: I know, it's crazy! You have to push buttons and number sequences and then some computerized voice announces your name.

Savor it folks. It's been a long time coming, but according to TV Shows on DVD, FOX has finally released the information for the fifth season of The Shield. Check out that box art. Vic looks great, huh?

Here's the bad news. The release date has already been bumped from February 27 to March 27, which confirms that the new season won't be back until April. Notice the box though? It says "Season 5" and not "Season 5 - Part 1." Initially, FX had set season five up as a 21 episode story arc. It would appear that it's now been split. The final ten episodes of what would have been called "Season 5 - Part 2" are now season six. The show was renewed for a final seventh season.

For those who are as impatient as I am, check out this promo that ran during the season finale of Nip/Tuck. The Strike Team can't come back soon enough.

For those of you who don't keep up with Nip/Tuck, then you probably weren't watching last week's season finale. That would also mean that you missed out on seeing the phenomenal new promo for The Shield.

It's lengthy too. At almost a minute long and set to a very cool song ("This Night" by Black Lab according to this message board), the promo takes you through the skies of LA before it settles on Vic and Shane standing in front of Lem's grave. Sends chills down my spine. With Dirt premiering in January though, we probably won't see The Shield return until April. This is the second promo that FX has aired for the new season too. The first aired earlier this year during the premiere of Rescue Me.

Thanks to reader DanMacMan for pointing this out to us. You can watch the video after the jump.

According to this morning's Ausiello Report, "reliable sources" have confirmed that a sixth season of The Shield has been green-lit. It seems that show creator Shawn Ryan is confident that there's still plenty more story to tell. Of course, at this rate, a sixth season probably won't be seen until sometime in late 2007 or 2008.

The last ten episodes of season five are currently being filmed and won't air until early 2007, which gives FX time to finish out the third season of Rescue Me and the fourth season of Nip/Tuck. No matter how you look at this though, it's good news. The Shield is easily one of the top five shows on TV (in my book anyway) and it's good to know that it'll be around for a little while longer.

During last night's season premiere of Rescue Me, FX ran its first new preview for the second half of season five of The Shield. It's not supposed to return until January 2007 I think, but the promo still said "Coming Soon." They love to tease us. For those who missed it, here's how it played out.

After the obligatory "Viewer Discretion Advised," solid black screens flash with the following slugs:

• Detective Curtis Lemansky
• Born July 14, 1963
• Died March 21, 2006
• Cause of Death

Then it flashes through a quick montage of all the characters. It ends on Shane. Whew, still sends chills down my spine. It wraps with what I'm assuming is the tagline for the rest of the season: "No One Rests in Peace." Neither will I until 2007 rolls around. I can't wait.

One of the things I love about this show is the play on words of its title: The Shield. A shield means protection. In particular, the shield a police officer carries, his badge, is protection. Take the shield away and you're just another citizen. When you're accused of wrongdoing, you've got nothing to hide behind, and there is no backup.

There are those things that make this show hard to watch, such as what happened to ex-Strike Teamer Tavon a while back, to Terry in season one and then, of course, what happened tonight. When you've invested this much into The Shield like I have, scenes like that are hard to take.

Usually I'd go on about all sorts of things that happened in an episode of this show: the interaction between Dutch and Billings, Danny's baby. But not tonight.

You know, I was about to chalk this episode to yet another lull-before-sweeps dud, but the last ten minutes paid off big time.

First let me say that The Shield must have gotten some hell for its use of language lately, as the "TVMALV" logo in the upper left of the screen was HUGE! Is it just me or was that new?